Kansas Turkey 2014

[kansasdad]

It was with great anticipation that I made a little detour coming home from the teal opening weekend to take the hike up the hill to the hayfield to collect my trail camera that had been hanging over a well used trail for the past six weeks. Popping the cover open, I was surprised to see that there was no more battery strength registering. I extracted the 16gig card into my camera and to my horror saw the words: memory contains no images!! I had a successful three day trial run in the backyard and had been convinced that there were no problems. I was sure that that memory card would be chock full of images of toms and jakes, hens and poults and lots of deer as well. The drought of the last two years certainly thinned out the numbers of deer as the ponds and watershed creek went full dry. My turkey hunting on this field this spring had given me hope that the whitetail population was filtering back into this neck of the woods.

I put new batteries into the camera and drove around Wallyworld's parking lot to capture a few images on the camera. Nope. I bought a new memory card thinking that that might be the problem. Nope. I felt the back of the camera......nearly burned my finger where the back of the box was nearly melting plastic hot.
Proud of myself for saving the receipt, a trip to Cabelas and some negotiating with the customer service folks, I had a new trail camera to hang.

Fall turkey season opens on October 1st for Kansas. This year there is a big change in the number of tags allowed for hunters in Kansas this fall. Most of the state is OTC for the first permit, and unlike previous years, a much smaller area of Kansas will have the second third and fourth bird opportunities that used to include the eastern 1/2 of the state.

A dream weekend for multi-species Kansas hunters comes the second weekend of October. Turkey's season will have started, there is a special whitetail antlerless weekend and is opening day/weekend for ducks in my favorite marshes of Kansas. Triple crown opportunity for deer turkey and ducks.

 

[DaveHawk]

I'm thinking of maybe some fall turkey hunting this year.
Good Luck

 

[kansasdad]

In the news for Kansas is a change in the permit/tag activation status. This year the tag is valid the day purchased instead of the next day. This applies to deer as well.

 

[kansasdad]

I decided I could get out of the house for a few hours Saturday so I decided to go the a nearby hunting area attached to a big reservoir and see about scouting around for Thanksgiving free range turkey. Heavy fog made the highway a little dicey and it made the gravel road way more exciting than normal. I saw several trucks in the usual parking areas, and presumed these were archery deer hunters, as there are few dedicated fall turkey hunters. I think most fall birds may be taken the same way folks get a predator (bear, wolf, lion) tag in other states......just in case I see one.

I found that "my" parking area was unoccupied, and started to gear up. Walking in in the dark is almost second nature here, as I have done it enough it sometimes seems as if I could go blindfolded. About a mile from the car: Note to self: Uncut milo fields will get you soaking wet in a hurry if it has been foggy/dewy out that night!!

It was a wonderfully unproductive turkey morning in the end. Corn had been harvested already but not milo or the soybeans. I walked several tree edges checking for turkey tracks.....zip. Deer scrapes....zilch. Just getting out was a blessing and to sit there and listen to the awakening of the day was soothing to the heart.

 

[noharleyyet]

..sounds exact;ly like 99.9% of my whitetail outings...except for the hiking, getting wet...etc.

 

[kansasdad]

I was able to get some very cool images off of the new trail cam today. Lots of turkey are still using the field, along with deer, raccoons and even captured a bobcat's rear half as he was moving down the trail. No dice seeing any turkeys in the hayfield today, but I didn't really expect to see any as it was blowing over 30 mph today, and any wise turkey would have found a way to get out of the wind.

 

[MT_elk]

Congrats!

 

[kansasdad]

With a wintry mix coming in this afternoon, this group of hens and their offspring are loafing around in the front yard of a neighborhood feeding station. I don't have "my" country flock as well trained or patterned.

 

[kansasdad]

I spy with my little eye a strange and wonderful rarely seen Kansas dweller, the Panda Scout!

"My" little slice of heaven of a hayfield is not really mine. The owner's granddaughter, mom and dad (the now non-newb turkey hunter from this spring season) went exploring, and "Scout" pranced about in front of the trail camera as a little joke for me. What is less of a joke is the complete absence of any turkeys on the trail camera over the last two weeks. The season takes a brief hiatus for firearms deer season (this coming Wednesday through the next two weekends) and then resumes for the remainder of December and January. While there is still time to get a fall bird, time is getting shorter.

 

[kansasdad]

Kansas turkey season for the fall runs from October 1 - January 31 taking a break during the firearms deer season. I went to "my" hayfield Sunday night for one last chance at a whitetail buck (doe season continues first week of 2015). Walking in to my desired setup spot, I glanced to my left to look through the hedgerow into the cut milo field to see if there were any early evening deer out and about. Staring back at me at 25 yards away in the tree line, just a scant 2 yards onto adjacent property was a doe, trying to be as still as a statue. Although in my head I am able to move like a deer/turkey ninja, it seemed strange to me that she didn't seem bothered by my presence. I continued my walk another 50 yards, and turned around to look where she was, and she was still sitting there. And by sitting, I mean sitting up like a dog. Hind legs on the ground, front legs straightened, staring at me. I spoke out loud to her, asking her if she was OK. The only thing that was moving was here head, and for just a moment, I wondered if the Game & Fish guys were running a decoy operation.

I proceeded to my spot for the evening hoping for a last moment buck. Around thirty minutes later I see a doe start to move from the treeline into the hayfield, It was her, and something didn't look normal about her slow gait. I got her on the binoculars, and was amazed to see that she had a basketball sized swinging mass between her front legs. Splaying her legs further apart so that she could move, she slowly fed and worked her way towards a woodlot to her south. She was over 350 yards away with a very strong crosswind, and beyond her was an adjacent house/outbuilding complex. I momentarily thought of putting her down to stop the suffering, but knew that the chance of success, and safety factors dictated that I let her walk.

I pulled the memory card from the trail camera, wondering if I had any images of this doe and her huge swinging fluctuant mass. A nighttime pic, with the mass between her legs slightly out of focus as it was swinging during the exposure. It was three days earlier, and maybe half the size of when I saw her live.

 

[LCH]

I pulled the memory card from the trail camera, wondering if I had any images of this doe and her huge swinging fluctuant mass. A nighttime pic, with the mass between her legs slightly out of focus as it was swinging during the exposure. It was three days earlier, and maybe half the size of when I saw her live.

I shot a button buck last year that had a similar mass. I cut into it, and probably a full gallon of yellow puss came pouring out, followed by a mass that my RN BIL said looked like a cancerous tumor. Needless to say, we didn't eat that one..

 

[kansasdad]

I went back through all the trail camera pics from this fall to see if I could determine when the basketball wearing doe started growing her "junk" between the front legs. No pics seen. I did see a couple of really good bucks that I didn't post, hoping to post an "as they fell" pic during rifle season. These two boys were tempting enough that I had plans to hold onto my bullets until either one of them showed up in rifle range....... Cue the Price is Right "Zonk Trombone".




The last two pictures tell the story of the hayfield deer hunt for me this year. Please note the time stamp is still on daylight savings time. A small buck posing in front of the camera ten minutes after sunset, I arrive to pull the memory card seven minutes after legal shooting cessation.

 

[Southwind]

KSDad that split g2 buck is nice, we had a split g2 also and my brother in law had him at 15 yards but we all thought he was young so he lived through the season.

The split g2 is in this picture with our big boy never seen during the light of day. He didn't show once velvet came off and I pull my camera once the season starts. Hope to see him next year.

 

[kansasdad]

Wow neighbor, those are two really cool bucks. Hope they make it to next season for you (or your brother in law, if it comes to that! )

 

[kansasdad]

Its definitely winter time in Kansas, and the combination of deer hunting activities, food and water sources being easier elsewhere, and maybe a few of the fanged/clawed critters caught on my trail camera, and the camera hasn't seen a turkey for over 6 weeks. The first picture is of the black/white hound dog who will periodically roam through the woods in full voice, followed by three coyotes up to no good, and this time the front and back end of the neighborhood spotted feline predator.

It would seem that if I want to fill my Fall 2014 tag (season goes through end of January) I will have to find a free range turkey away from "my" hayfield or woodlots.

 

[kansasdad]

So this weekend closes out the final days of antlerless deer hunting in the zone that "my" turkey hayfield resides. As I arrived at the property, I was faced with a north wind which is not my favorite wind for the fact that I can't set up to see both sides of the crown of the hill as the main bed zone would be downwind. Canada and whitefront geese by the hundreds were flying directly overhead within pass shooting range, but although I had carried my deer rifle and shotgun, I was loaded for turkey with lead so I could only smile in agony as they worked their way against the wind to go feed.

Walking in I had bumped two does, flagging their whitetails at me as they escaped. As there are two bedding zones on this little piece of heaven, I was still hopeful that a doe would make an appearance before it was too dark to take a good shot. About 10 minutes after the sun had disappeared over the horizon I saw movement at the crest of the ridge. Ten does and young of the spring were trotting along the crest of the ridge nervously moving in fits and spurts, some of them looking over their shoulders behind them. They were all bunched together and constantly moving so there was no chance for a shot. I thought that there was still a chance for another deer to show so I kept watch. With just a few minutes of legal shooting time left, I once again saw movement coming from one of the dips in the field. I already had the 243 on the shooting stick and as I leaned down into shooting position I realized it was a coyote. The land owner has asked me to take every coyote I could, so when this coyote stopped and turned to look down the hill towards me, I squeezed a round off. 37+ pounds of Kansas fur and fang rode home with me that night.

As this is my first ever coyote, I am a little mad at all you HuntTalk guys for not sharing how hard it is to skin a coyote!

Still have a chance to get it done with the fall turkey tag good through the end of the month.

 

[kansasdad]

Sitting in the rain last afternoon hoping I could catch a last second break and get a fall turkey, and yet knowing it probably wouldn't happen, I had a chance to think about my Kansas turkey season.

This season was full of wild swings....hunting in drought and monsoon rains, below freezing and above 100 (Fahrenheit for our international friends!) full of hope and knowledge of almost certain failure to connect, solo or with one, two or once three others coming along, heavy shoulder with the turkey coming home with me or more often empty.

And through it all, each trip was a great adventure and a success unto itself. For me, a trip into turkey territory gives me the opportunity to put on camouflage and try to out smart ( or out luck) a stupidly smart or smartly stupid bird bent on surviving and passing his genes on to the next generation. I hope to Maybe bring home his tasty free range body for my family to enjoy, but in the end it is so much more than a 45 minute ride up the interstate and then trying to blend into the woods to fool a bird.

Turkey hunting this spring gave me the opportunity to hunt with my oldest son, now in New Delhi for the year, and with my oldest daughter and be there when she got her first turkey. I was able to successfully mentor a newb turkey hunter to his first turkey. I was able to help some (Internet) friends have a very successful non-resident season as well. My youngest and I got out only once with a shotgun in her hands and once again her unfilled tag will go into the gallon ziplock bag of expired/unfilled licenses.

Whether solo this fall or mostly with hunting companions this spring the enjoyment in hunting is not wholly in the going and shooting or not shooting a bird. It is a "heart thing" for me. I get to be still and quiet, when the ways of our world would demand that I move and live in cacophony. I get to feel the wind blow and really listen to the raindrops hit my hat while I will a Tom turkey come to my call

I love turkey hunting in the spring in Kansas. The early days are often chilly enough that layering is mandatory, the only promise of spring is the increasing daylight hours, the tree buds thinking of swelling and the increased fervor of birds calling out at dawn to once again tell all that would listen that I made it through another night and I am ready to claim this day for me.

The turkeys often are still in their winter flocks. Watching 30+ birds pitch out of the trees to start to mix it up with dominance squabbling is breathtaking. I always feel sorry for the poor most submissive jake. Everybody bullies on him and there is seemingly no escape for him.

Later as the promise of spring begins to manifest the majority of hens have successfully been bred and are starting the nesting process. Those large flocks of birds are dwindling as hunters connect to further reduce the flock size. Hunting statistics show that the majority of spring turkeys are killed in first third of the season. Grass is green again and the underbrush has leafed out with the trees following suit. Sure makes it easier to move without getting busted by the birds, but it also makes it harder to spot them as well.

By May 1st the birds on "my" public land hunting spots have taken a vow of silence. After fly down these birds shut up and almost never vocalize. I have seen birds stop in mid-step on hearing my yelp or cluck, zero in to where the noise is coming from and then bug out at full run directly away from the fake hen on the other side of the crop field (me!)

Fall season starts October 1st in Kansas. I think most hunters who are successful in harvesting a turkey are not seeking a turkey as their primary quarry. I try to get in a few turkey only hunts, but in Kansas with waterfowl, upland and deer options, very often the turkey hunt gets rescheduled for other options. Twice this fall while after turkeys (and thus with a turkey choke and lead shot) I had hundreds of white fronted and Canada geese fly overhead in easy pass shooting range and all I could do was smile, admire, and shake my head.

As I reflect on my Kansas 2014 turkey season I am thankful for a family that knows how much I enjoy getting out and oftentimes wants to come share an adventure with me. It has been a full and wonderful season.